One of the two warring ethnic militias in the Solomon Islands staged a major ceremonial surrender of arms on Friday, handing over 90 weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, saying the time for guns was over. “I would like to apologize to our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and all our relatives for all the cruel things we have done in the past several years,” said Malcolm Lake, a former member of the Malaitan Eagle Force (MEF). “Time for gun is past,” said Lake during the ceremony by 70 former MEF members in Auki, the provincial capital on the island of Malaita. In a symbolic gesture that the war in this South Pacific nation was over, MEF commander Jimmy Rasta handed over an army jacket he wore while fighting the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army. Full Story
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